Pune: A 71-year-old man from Pune was scammed out of ₹5.36 lakh by cyber criminals under the guise of processing a return for a defective charger purchased from Amazon.

The incident has come to light after Prakash Kulkarni, a resident of Sahakarnagar, filed a complaint at Parvati Police Station.

According to the police, Kulkarni had ordered a mobile charger from the popular online retailer Amazon. When he discovered a defect in the charger, he decided to return it and searched for the company's contact number online. Unfortunately, he encountered cyber criminals who impersonated Amazon representatives.

The fraudsters, pretending to assist with the return, sent Kulkarni a link and asked him to fill in his details for processing the return.

Unbeknownst to him, the link was a phishing scam designed to access his personal information. Once Kulkarni entered the requested information, the criminals swiftly withdrew ₹5.36 lakh from his bank account.

The incident occurred on 19th November last year in Sahakarnagar, but the case has recently been reported. The police are currently investigating the cyber fraud and have warned citizens to be cautious when dealing with unsolicited links or calls claiming to represent companies.

Externed Criminal Arrested by Crime Branch

Pune: A criminal externed from Pune for two years was arrested on Monday by Crime Branch Unit 6 officers after being found in violation of his exile order.

The accused, Tanmay Ajit Bedge, 21, was spotted near Quality Bakery in Hadapsar after police received a tip-off from an informant.

Bedge had been externed from Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad jurisdictions under an order issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 5, on January 12, 2023, for a period of two years.